The phenomenally successful Harold Prince staging of Andrew Lloyd Webber,
Charles Hart and Richard Stilgoe's The Phantom of the Opera has returned
to Seattle for a fourth visit, in respectable but not exactly rousing
form. Younger audience members or those who have managed to miss the
Phantom here, on Broadway and elsewhere in the nearly two decades since it
first appeared, are clearly going to enjoy it more than those of us on our
fourth or fifth go round.

Based on Gaston Leroux's frequently adapted tale of a mysterious phantom
who haunts the Paris Opera while coaching and pursuing a futile romance
with a young opera singer, Webber's Phantom has an inescapably familiar
ring to it by now. Songs like "All I Ask of You," "The Music of the Night"
and the title song have become recognizable to even non-theatergoers via
the likes of Barbra Streisand and others widely played recordings. And,
vocally, the score is richly served by the principal performers in the
current tour.

Brad Little is a far more vocally powerful Phantom than the role's
originator Michael Crawford, though Little tends to growl and snarl his way
through the lower notes. In general, though, he is one of the better masked
men this writer has seen take on the role, effectively blending menace and
pathos. Even better is the captivating Lisa Vroman as
opera star-to-be Christine Daae. Vroman may have played this role more
times than anyone, having toured with the show, done a long run in San
Francisco and a run on Broadway, but her performance is still fresh, and
her vocals, always secure, have grown richer and more full-bodied through
the years. As Raoul, Christine's childhood sweetheart who returns to
romance her and rescue her from the Phantom's clutches, Tim Martin Gleason
is a bit overblown and melodramatic, even given the melodrama of the
piece. Still, he shares the same level of vocal prowess as his co-stars.
David Cryer and D.C. Anderson are comic delights as the petrified opera
house managers, and mega-voiced Kim Stengel - seemingly channeling Miss
Piggy as the opera's prima Donna Carlotta - adds further comic flair to
the production.

Gillian Lynne's choreography of the pivotal "Masquerade" number remains
striking, as do Maria Bjornson's production design and Andrew Bridge's
lighting. At the press opening I attended, a hanging victim of the Phantom
inadvertently appeared prior to the planned moment of his demise, but that
was surely a rare occurrence. The orchestra sounded rich and full, though
spotty miking sometime muddied the vocalist's lyrics.

Many in the crowd stood at the end to applaud the production. While I was
not moved to rise, I can imagine that for a new viewer the show is still
quite the eyeful - and likely to remain a draw whether the now shooting
film version is a hit or a flop.

The Phantom of the Opera runs through September 28, 2003 at the Paramount,
911 Pine Street, in downtown Seattle. For further information go to the
Paramount's web site at www.theparamount.com.